Media-crity

Today was laser treatment #2 and it went much better than the first. I got 600 lasers in, twice what I got last time! Of course, this means that the recovery time is a bit longer, I’m still in a considerable amount of discomfort nearly 5 hours later. I have to wear my eyepatch or else my eye tears up constantly. A good night’s sleep should cure that.

My new glasses arrived today, too! I can see again! I took a huge chance and ordered them online from a place I had read some reviews of called Zenni Optical. It was super-easy, all you need is the written scrip from your doctor. They have all kinds of frames and they’re really cheap. LensCrafters wanted $300-400 for just the lenses and I got them from Zenni for less than $40! They said it’d take at least two weeks, maybe more because my lenses are especially strong, and they were here in 10 days. I just got them today so O can’t say how long they’ll last, but for an occasional wearer like me, $40 is a lot more palatable than $400. They feel well made and the prescription is perfect and they fit beautifully. Just in time, I was getting tired of being unable to read the eyecharts everytime I go to the doctor.

Perhaps I will post a picture for FLANN 200! *jazz hands* when I post my eyepatch photo.

GASP. Rory just said that she hates Dan Abrams!

(PS: Still hate Christopher and Anna and they should go be together in Miserable Cranky Overrreaction World)

I woke up this morning with a new floater so my doctor asked me to come in again (I was just there yesterday) so she could take a look. While I was there, she saw new bleeding and decided to start on the lasers today. I’ve been all over the internet in the past week looking for some comprehensive explanation of the procedure and have found nothing so I hope this helps some people.

This surgery essentially destroys the peripheral retina so cut down on the stimulus on the blood vessels so they don’t try to move as much blood through them. It won’t correct any current bleeds but it will eventually delay or prevent any in the future. It takes some time for the blood vessels to regress, though.

She gave me several dilating drops and some local anesthetic (numbing drops) and got the machine set up. Then she put what looks like a small camera lens, coated in a gooey jelly, directly on my eye. This propped the eyelid open so I was free to blink whenever I wanted and could even close my other eye. There is a light similar to the BRIGHT BLINDING light in the slit microscope. My chin was on the chinrest and forehead on the bar, also like the slit microscope. There were some velcro straps, I guess to keep the head still if necessary but she didn’t use them on me.

Then she did a few “tests” to determine the power necessary. The tests were the first few lasers. There is a bright flash of light and a sort of “puff” noise like an old fashioned camera flash going off. In some parts it hurt right away, some it took 8-10 flashes to hurt. The pain was more “discomfort” but since it was so unfamiliar it was pretty awful. It feels like someone is yanking on your optic nerve. She let me take breaks whenever I needed to. Each time I asked her to take the lens off my eye cause it didn’t take much to get it back on. She said that contact lens wearers have an easier time with the lens.

As my eye got more and more “numb” it felt REALLY weird when she’d take the lens off. I was able to take 294 blasts before I had to stop. She tries to do 500 per session (you typically need around 3 from what I understand). Next time I will take some Aleve before I go so I can hopefully tolerate more. When she took the lens off for the last time, keeping my eye open was pretty painful. The numbing made it feel like my eyelid was drooping but my husband said that the affected eye was actually open wider. The whole ride home I kept my eyes closed.

As soon as I got home I took some Aleve and got in bed for awhile to keep my eyes closed. When I woke up after an hour or so, the numbing had worn off and I felt a lot better. Now there’s some pain, similar to when my contact gets dry and I take it out and it sort of “sticks.” I feel some pressure, too. It’s the worst when I blink. No real vision changes aside from the blurriness from the floaters and some weird residual images/colors from the lasers, which she said might happen.

One good thing about this craptacular day is that I was home to DL the iTunes-exclusive Jesse Malin EP and I am in love. When I haven’t been listening to “Black Haired Girl” on endless repeat, I’ve been listening to “Boys and Girls in America” over and over. It’s currently in our kitchen stereo, and my office is right off the kitchen, so score for me cause those speakers are way better than my little nickel-sized iBook speakers.

Today was craptacular because I had to spend it working from home (oh poor baby, right? read on) cause I had what I thought was a GIANT hemorrhage in my eye and needed to take rest periods from the computer every hour or so. See, I got sick last night, and a half hour later this weird black floater appeared. I went pretty much right to bed, figuring maybe it’d go away overnight. Nope. So I stayed home and went to the eye doctor and he confirmed that it was a new hemorrhage, but said it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was fearing. Tomorrow it’s off to the retina specialist to get shot up with dye and have pictures taken of my eyes. Then come the lasers, presumably at a later appointment. In the meantime I’m not supposed to do anything that will raise the blood pressure in my head, such as lifting, jogging, exercising in any way, coughing, sneezing, vomiting, or holding my breath for extended periods of time. Well there go my weekend plans.

At least if I can’t see, I have my music, right?

Today I ate my lunch and went to give my insulin as usual. As I was injecting it, it suddenly dawned on me that I had just injected the dose I usually give of my bedtime long-acting insulin, which is about 4 times as much as what I was supposed to give for lunch. I should have given 10 units and instead I injected 38. Yeah. So, I crammed some coffeecakes, 2 nutrigrain bars, and 2 large glasses of OJ in my mouth to keep myself from crashing and seizing and all of that messy stuff. This all went down about 2 hours ago so I’m going to be fine, as this insulin tends to do its work within the first 90 minutes and is completely finished working after 3 hours. I’ve been checking every 15-20 minutes and have been A-OK.

Just call me Calamity Jane.

Today was the first chance I had to really, really listen to The Hold Steady’s “Boys and Girls in America” and … wow. Is it possible to fall in love with a CD? The opening riff of “Stuck Between Stations” is like hitting play on an early-morning roadtrip. Craig Finn’s growl through it all is hypnotizing and mesmerizing. I gravitate toward slower stuff, so “Citrus” and “First Night” knocked me flat with lyrics like the one in the subject line and “she was golden with barlight and beer/she slept like she’d never been scared.”

I saw Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank today. When I was in the shower just now, I had all of these amazing thoughts that I was going to jump out and post when I finished. Then I got out, dried off … and it was gone.

So you should go see it.

So, my eyes didn’t get better. They got worse. This best explains what’s going on:

Background Diabetic Retinopathy (BDR) may occur at any point in time after the onset of diabetes. In general, this is the first “stage” of diabetic retinopathy and, therefore, the least concerning. This condition is often present without any visual symptoms. Findings in the retina include dot and blot hemorrhages (tiny hemorrhages in the retina itself), microaneurysms (out-pouchings of capillaries), and exudates (retinal deposits occurring as a result of leaky vessels). The development of this condition in type I (juvenile-onset) diabetics is rarely present prior to three or four years following the onset of diabetes. In type II (adult-onset) diabetics, background diabetic retinopathy may be present at the time of diagnosis of the condition. Primary care practitioners should refer patients with diabetes to ophthalmologists, accordingly.

In general, patients are not typically treated with laser photocoagulation of the retina for background retinopathy. An exception exists for some patients with an advanced form of BDR known as pre-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Ophthalmologists may recommend treatment at this stage, especially if the opposite eye has had diabetic related complications.

I have an appointment with a retina specialist next week to see if I need the laser surgery. I’m scared of it but, at the same time, if it means having it now and getting the problem resolved or having it later when the problem is worse and needing more treatments, I’d rather do it now.

What a whirlwind day today has been.

Noodle soup + crusty bread + cheddar + Snapple = sick day food love.

Finally catching that Gilmore Girls I missed. I hate Christopher and Anna and they should go be together and suck the life and fun out of everything all by themselves. I also hate Lucy and wish she would stop calling Marty “boyfriend” all the time. He has a name! Oh, and Logan is tipping back toward wanting-to-smack-him territory. I miss Jess.

Finally feeling a little bit more normal after a good day of rest. Tomorrow brings the eye doctor, whee! Fingers crossed that the small changes in the blood vessels in my eyes have righted themselves. That was a bout of bad news to get after my last appointment. I have noticed my vision improving since that appointment, I don’t see anymore “shadows” in my vision.

Sounds like Houston is getting some pretty insane weather right now. So glad we got out relatively unscathed.

That’s what I want to say to this cold. I’m just so dizzy from it, when I stand up. Fortunately, I feel 1000% better than I did yesterday, but not quite up to par. I did, however, manage to make it to the doctor (unrelated to the cold, sadly) in one piece, and that involved driving out to Glastonbury in the rain. I think that’s a huge accomplishment for any day, nevermind one where I’m sick. Yes, I’m a huge baby when it comes to driving.

Other than that, back to work tomorrow. Been a nice 5-day weekend, though!

Oh, and by the way, I am officially a convert to New York Magazine. Amanda, bring ‘em on!

We have returned from our whirlwind trip to Houston. So much to say but all I can manage is this: I have brought back a plague. Nate was sick going out there and for the bulk of the trip, then he got better and I got worse last night. Flying was a nightmare, especially with rerouted flights, changing terminals, getting selected for the VIT treatment (Very Important Terrorist) at security, and getting stuck in a last-row seat that doesn’t recline when all you want to do is sleep.

However, thanks to the good people who make Aleve Cold & Sinus, I at least resemble something halfway human.

Now, to unpack a bit, get settled, and enjoy the first night’s sleep in a real bed since Tuesday. Mmm … Tempurpedic and down comforter …

A choice holiday photo from the big party yesterday. My family is made up of giants, like my Uncle Jimmie here, except for my cousin Bernadette and I, the token short people.

I even married a giant! See?

This is just a cute one of Nate and I. My mom is a very sneaky photographer.

We’re off to a family Christmas party today. This is the big gathering of my mom’s family. We do one of those Yankee swaps like they did so hilariously on The Office, but with spending limits so there will be no great iPod vs. crocheted pot holder battle. Nate and I are bringing our two favorite kitchen gadgets: the programmable digital probe thermometer and the apple peeler/corer/slicer.

But first, off to the DMV! Yay?

Oh, and I am totally wearing capris today. And sandals. WTF?